Holothuroidea, Stichopodidae)
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A peer-reviewed open-access journal ZooKeys 545:Sea 1–26 cucumbers (2015) of the genus Stichopus Brandt, 1835 (Holothuroidea, Stichopodidae)... 1 doi: 10.3897/zookeys.545.6415 RESEARCH ARTICLE http://zookeys.pensoft.net Launched to accelerate biodiversity research Sea cucumbers of the genus Stichopus Brandt, 1835 (Holothuroidea, Stichopodidae) in Straits of Malacca with description of a new species Sau Pinn Woo1, Zulfigar Yasin2, Shau Hwai Tan3, Hiroshi Kajihara1, Toshihiko Fujita4 1 Department of Natural History Sciences, Graduate School of Science, Hokkaido University, Kita 10 Nishi 8, Sapporo 060-0810, Japan 2 Institute of Oceanography and Environment, Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, 21030 Kuala Terengganu, Terengganu, Malaysia 3 Marine Science Laboratory, School of Biological Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800 Minden, Penang, Malaysia 4 Department of Zoology, National Museum of Nature and Science, Amakubo 4-1-1, Tsukuba 305-0005, Ibaraki, Japan Corresponding author: Sau Pinn Woo ([email protected]) Academic editor: Y. Samyn | Received 31 August 2015 | Accepted 12 November 2015 | Published 14 December 2015 http://zoobank.org/A7C89135-0A86-4AE7-A543-DBE1E44E5263 Citation: Woo SP, Zulfigar Y, Tan SH, Kajihara H, Fujita T (2015) Sea cucumbers of the genus Stichopus Brandt, 1835 (Holothuroidea, Stichopodidae) in Straits of Malacca with description of a new species. ZooKeys 545: 1–26. doi: 10.3897/zookeys.545.6415 Abstract Five sea cucumber species including one new species of the genus Stichopus are reported from the shallow coral reefs of Straits of Malacca. The new speciesStichopus fusiformiossa has unusual fusiform spicules in the tentacles, which are not found in the other species of the genus. Pseudo-tables and large perforated plates are newly recorded for Stichopus hermanni Semper, 1868 and Stichopus vastus Sluiter, 1887, respectively. Keywords Echinodermata, sea cucumbers, Stichopus, Malaysia, taxonomy, spicules, shallow reef Introduction Recent revisions on the holothuroid taxonomy have resulted in some taxonomical changes and introduction of several new species in the genus Stichopus Brandt, 1835 of the family Stichopodidae (Rowe and Gates 1995; Massin 1999; Massin et al. 2002; Copyright Sau Pinn Woo et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. 2 Sau Pinn Woo et al. / ZooKeys 545: 1–26 (2015) Byrne et al. 2010). Outer morphology of Stichopus is somehow very deceptive and similar interspecifically (Clark 1922; Massin et al. 2002), and variable intraspecifically. Field identification by their external appearances proved to be difficult and identifi- cation using spicules is essential (Clark 1922; Clark and Rowe 1971; Massin et al. 2002; Massin 2007). To enhance the understanding of classification within the fam- ily Stichopodidae, Moraes et al. (2004) introduced chemotaxonomic approach while Byrne et al. (2010) and Uthicke et al. (2010) have employed molecular sequence data. One of the earliest comprehensive records on the diversity and distribution of holothurians in Malaysian waters was done by Ridzwan and Che Bashah (1985). Then, Zulfigar et al. (2008) produced a field guide to sea cucumbers in shallow water and coral reefs in Malaysia. However, taxonomic studies of the genus Stichopus in Malaysia were scarce and done only at the southern part of the South China Sea (Siti et al. 1999; Massin et al. 2002). Massin et al. (2002) described two new species, Stichopus ruber- maculosus and Stichopus ocellatus there. The genusStichopus is one of the dominant genera in tropical shallow waters which is an important fishery commodity. Although Straits of Malacca is a major area for stichopodid fisheries, there has not been a com- prehensive taxonomic study done on stichopodids in that area. Furthermore, the genus Stichopus is taxonomically very confusing due to their similarity between each species in outer appearance and the presence of variations (Massin et al. 2002). In this study, detailed morphological descriptions were done on the species of the genus Stichopus including a new species found from the shallow reefs of the Straits of Malacca. Material and methods Sea cucumbers were collected from the shallow coral reef areas of Pulau Payar (6°26'2.7"N, 99°40'54.8"E), Pulau Songsong (5°48'31.2"N, 100°17'38.0"E) and Pulau Sembilan (4°1'46.8"N, 100°32'39.7"E) in the Straits of Malacca as shown in Figure 1. The sampling areas were situated in highly sedimented waters of the Straits of Malacca (Chua et al. 2000) with poor reef framework formation (Pillai and Scheer 1974). All sampling areas exhibited similar shallow reef flat at depths about 10-15m with gradual slope of sandy substrate extending to 30m depth. SCUBA diving was employed in collecting specimens using wandering transect covering an area of about 150–200 m2, .up to 30 m water depth during day and night. The sea cucumber speci- mens were fixed in absolute ethanol for two weeks and stored in 70% ethanol. Spicules were extracted from the tissues of the dorsal body, tip of the papillae, tentacles, and tube feet. The tissue were dissolved using commercial bleach and spicules were then washed several times with distilled water before transferring them to a glass slide to be observed under microscope. Pencil drawing of the spicules were done using a drawing tube attached to the microscope. The pencil drawings were then traced on a tracing pa- per using fine technical pens and digitized by scanning. All specimens were deposited at Marine Science Laboratory, Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM/MSL). Sea cucumbers of the genus Stichopus Brandt, 1835 (Holothuroidea, Stichopodidae)... 3 Figure 1. Map of study area in the Straits of Malacca: 1 Pulau Payar 2 Pulau Songsong 3 Pulau Sembilan. 4 Sau Pinn Woo et al. / ZooKeys 545: 1–26 (2015) Results Systematics Stichopodidae Haeckel, 1896 Stichopus Brandt, 1835 Type species. Stichopus chloronotus Brandt, 1835 Diagnosis. Peltate-shaped tentacles at ventral mouth with quadrangular shaped body. Flattened ventral sole with tube feet in ambulacra area. Papillae conspicuous. No cuvierien tubules and no anal teeth or traceable papillae around the cloacal open- ing. Gonads in two tufts, one at each sides of the dorsal mesentery. Spicules primarily tables, branched rods and C-shaped rods (Clark and Rowe 1971). Species composition. This genus consists of 14 species. Stichopus chloronotus Brandt, 1835; Stichous ellipes Clark, 1938; Stichopus herrmanni Semper, 1868; Sticho- pus horrens Selenka, 1867; Stichopus ludwigi Erwe, 1913; Stichopus monotuberculatus (Quoy & Qaimard, 1834); Stichopus naso Semper, 1868; Stichopus noctivagus Cher- bonnier, 1967; Stichopus ocellatus Massin, Zulfigar, Hwai & Boss, 2002; Stichopus pseudohorrens Cherbonnier, 1967; Stichopus quadrifasciatus Massin, 1999; Stichopus rubermaculosus Massin, Zulfigar, Hwai & Boss, 2002;Stichopus fusiformiossa sp. n. Woo; Stichopus vastus Sluiter, 1887 Remarks. The common characteristics of this genus include gonads with two branching tufts (which is a taxonomic character for the family Stichopodidae) and the presence of tables, C-shaped, and S-shaped rod spicules in the tissue (Clark and Rowe 1971). The distribution of the genusStichopus was throughout the tropical and subtropical waters of the Indo-West Pacific region (Clark and Rowe 1971). Stichopus chloronotus Brandt, 1835 Figs 2–3 Holothuria (Holothuria) quadrangularis Lesson, 1830: 90, pl 31, fig. 1. Stichopus (Perideris) chloronotus Brandt, 1835: 250. Stichopus chloronotus; Selenka 1867: 315, pl. 17, figs 20–24; 18, fig. 25; Pearson 1903: 204; Panning 1944: 30, fig. 3a–e; Loi and Sach 1963: 238, pl. 1, fig. A, pl. VI, fig. 1; Clark and Rowe 1971: 178, pl. 27, fig. 18; Mary Bai 1980: 16, fig. 101; Tan Tiu 1981: 65, pl. 7, figs 1–3; Clark 1984: 99; Féral and Cherbonnier 1986: 94; Cannon and Silver 1986: 27, fig. 4h; Cherbonnier 1988: 146, fig. 60A–O; James and James 1994: 12, pl. VI; Kerr 1994: 163; Rowe and Gates 1995: 323; Massin et al. 2002: 74, figs 1–2, pl. 1A. Stichopus cylindricus Haacke, 1880: 47. Stichopus chloronotus var. fuscus Pearson, 1903: 204. Sea cucumbers of the genus Stichopus Brandt, 1835 (Holothuroidea, Stichopodidae)... 5 Stichopus hirotai Mitsukuri, 1912: 161. Holothuria viridis Cherbonnier, 1952: 19–21, fig. 7. Material examined. Five specimens: USM/MSL/PB004, USM/MSL/PB005, USM/ MSL/PB006, USM/MSL/PB007, USM/MSL/PP005. Type locality. Lugunor Islands, Guam. Description. External morphology: Body quadrangular in cross-section with four distinctive sides; smooth, firm, and hard, indicating thick integument; dark blue in colour underwater and almost black out of water (Fig. 2). Large and long papillae at dorso-lateral edge running from collar of tentacles toward anus in two rows; similar papillae at ventro-lateral edge but in one single row; tip to base of papillae yellow to ochre in colour. Ambulacral areas with tube feet and narrow interambulacra; central ambulacrum wider compared to other two ambulacra. Oral opening with 20 peltate tentacles on ventral side; anus at terminal. Spicules: Dorsal body wall with tables, C-shaped rods, and S-shaped rods (Fig. 3A–C). Tables abundant in dorsal body wall; base smooth with four large central per- forations and 4–10 smaller peripheral holes; four pillars forming spires, joined with one crossbeam; tip of each pillar spiny. C-shaped rods smooth with sharp endings; some being irregular in form. S-shaped rods derived from C-shaped rods present. Dorsal papillae bearing C-shaped rods, S-shaped rods, elongated rods, and tables (Fig. 3D–G). Tables in dorsal papillae with large disc, four central perforations, and multiple periph- eral holes; pillars joined by one, sometimes incomplete, crossbeam; tip of pillars with multiple large spines. Ventral tube feet bearing plates, thick rods, tables, and C-shaped rods (Fig. 3H–J). Large plates in ventral tube feet having distinctive larger central perfo- Figure 2. Stichopus chloronotus Brandt, 1835 (USM/MSL/PB004), dorsal (A) and ventral (B) views.